] The team%u2019s discovery lays the foundation for many
] creative approaches to developing new therapies for HIV
] infection and AIDS, Sodroski says. One possibility is
] that monkey TRIM5-alpha could be delivered to HIV
] patients via gene therapy to rescue as-yet-uninfected
] cells. Alternatively, Sodroski offers, because humans
] make a protein that is 87 percent identical,
] investigators might also focus on rendering the human
] version of TRIM5-alpha more potent.

[ The sooner the better. -k]

] TRIM5-alpha stymies HIV but not SIV, which explains why
] monkeys can contract only one of the two viruses. "The
] maintenance of a strong block to HIV-1 in Old World
] monkeys implies a selective advantage, presumably imposed
] by the presence of HIV-1-like viruses during the
] evolution of this primate lineage," the scientists write,
] adding that although humans carry a version of
] TRIM5-alpha, it is not as effective in thwarting HIV
] transmission.